Hand grip

ABSTRACT

A tape (6) for forming a hand grip (8) on the handle of sporting equipment, hand tools and the like including a method and serrated tool for making the tape. Hand grips on the handle of such devices become wet and slippery from perspiration, however, the present tape minimizes the problem. The tape (6) has upper and lower surfaces provided with substantially complementary longitudinally extending ridges (10) and grooves (9). The serrated tool has a front face (20), a rear face (21) and a cutting edge (22) comprising teeth (23). The method involves rotation of a disc of material relative to the serrated tool to peel tape (6) from the disc. A hand grip (8) may be formed from the tape (6) by helically winding the tape onto the handle portion.

The present invention relates to grips for sporting equipment, handtools and other articles generally gripped by hand during use and toaspects of the preparation thereof. The invention will be described byway of example only with reference to the preferred application to asporting racquet or the like. However, it should be understood that thepresent invention is applicable to the provision of grips for otherapplications and the invention is in no way restricted to the exampleapplication described hereafter.

It is known to provide a sporting racquet with a grip made of a strip ofleather helically wound around a handle portion of the racquet. Prior tothe application of such a strip to the handle portion the latter iscoated with an adhesive and the edges of the leather strip are bevelled.After the leather strip is wound onto the handle portion the bevellededges form depressions which extend helically along the handle portionto provide areas to which the fingers of the user may fit to provide asuitable grip. During use such a leather strip tends to deteriorate andabsorb moisture.

Another known grip comprises a moulded rubber sleeve which may beslipped over the shaft or handle portion of the racquet. The sleeve isattached to the handle portion by an adhesive. However, it is difficultto apply a tight fitting sleeve over a handle and during useperspiration reduces the surface friction of the outer surface of thesleeve and such prior art grips become slippery.

To overcome these problems it has been proposed to apply a stickysubstance to the hands and/or grips or alternatively to wrap a stickytape around the handle portion of the racquet. These proposals are farfrom satisfactory and provide only temporary solutions to the problemcaused by perspiration during use.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide in oneembodiment of the invention an improved grip for handle portions ofracquets and like equipment.

It is a further object to provide in another embodiment of the inventiontape for forming a hand grip.

It is yet another object to provide in a further embodiment of theinvention a method of making tape for hand grips and to provide acutting tool useful in the method of making the tape.

According to one embodiment, the present invention provides tape forforming a hand grip characterised in that the tape has upper and lowersurfaces provided with substantially complementary, longitudinallyextending grooves and ridges.

According to another embodiment, the invention provides a hand grip onthe handle portion of sporting equipment, a hand tool or other articlegenerally gripped by hand during use characterised in that a length oftape according to the invention is helically wound onto the handleportion and affixed thereto. Preferably a portion of one longitudinaledge of the tape overlaps a portion of the opposite longitudinal edgethereof whereby grooves and ridges on the upper surface of the tapeengage complementary ridges and grooves on the lower surface of thetape.

In yet another embodiment the invention provides a method of making tapefor hand grips characterised by the steps of providing a disc of tapematerial and peeling a strip of tape from the outer periphery of thedisc by rotating the disc relative to a cutting tool held against theouter periphery of the disc. Whilst it is preferred that the disc berotated and the cutting tool be stationary, the reverse could also bethe case. Alternatively, both the disc and cutting tool may both move.

In another embodiment, the invention provides a serrated cutting toolcharacterised in that the tool has a front face and a rear face and aserrated cutting edge, the front face having a series of longitudinallyextending grooves terminating at the cutting edge to form a plurality ofcutting teeth.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way ofexample with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the handle portion of a racquethaving a grip according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an expanded fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along lineII--II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an expanded fragmentary cross-sectional view showing theconfiguration of tape according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a cutting tool according to anembodiment of the invention; and,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the tool of FIG. 4 showing the frontface.

According to one embodiment the invention provides a tape 6 suitable forapplication to the handle portion 7 of a racquet to form a grip 8. Thetape 6 provided by the invention may be made from any suitable materialssuch as leather, rubber, plastics or the like or any combinations of oneor more of these materials. In a preferred form of the invention thetape may be made from a porous cellular rubber or plastics material. Thematerial may be subjected to pretreatments such as pre-shrinking orultraviolet stabilization and may contain anti-oxidants. The materialfrom which the tape is made may be of any suitable thickness. Athickness between 0.5 mm and 2.5 mm has been found most suitable.Preferably the tape is about 1.6 mm in thickness although otherthicknesses may also be employed for forming grips.

The upper and lower surfaces of the tape may be provided with surfaceembellishments such as stripes or the like. Surface embellishments, ifadopted, may be chosen for asthetic reasons or may be in the form ofadvertising material or any other desired marking.

The upper and lower surfaces of the tape are provided withcomplimentary, longitudinally extending grooves 9 and ridges 10. Thegrooves 9 and ridges 10 may be arranged so that they extend from an edgeat least partway laterally across the tape 6. The grooves and ridges onthe upper surface of the tape are arranged so that they aresubstantially complementary to the grooves and ridges on the lowersurface of the tape. That is, when the tape is folded back upon itselfso that the upper surface contacts the lower surface as would be thecase when the tape is partially overlapped in being helically woundaround the handle portion of the racquet, the grooves and ridges on onesurface engage the grooves and ridges provided on the other surface ofthe tape. The cross-sectional shape of the grooves and ridges may bevaried in accordance with the invention. For example the grooves may beV-shaped, channel shaped, curved or of another profile. Similarly, theridges may be of varying shapes. As shown in FIG. 3 the grooves andridges are arcuate. This provides a choice of surface texture in theresultant grip by having a desired one of the tape surfaces uppermostwhen wound onto the handle portion. The tape 6 may be applied as inFIGS. 2 and 3 with the convex side of the arcuate elements outermost.Alternatively tape 6 may be applied with the concave side outermost. Inthis latter configuration the hand of the user contacts the sharperridges separating adjoining arcuate elements. Thus there is a greatervalley area for conducting perspiration away from the user's hand inthis configuration. However, the feel is generally harsher than that ofthe alternative configuration shown in the drawings where the ridges incontact with the user's hand are more rounded and hence give the grip asofter feel.

Both configurations have been found to perform satisfactorily and thepersonal preference of the user may conveniently determine which side ofthe grip tape should face outwardly after application of the tape to aracquet or other item.

The grooves extending longitudinally along both surfaces of the tapeenable the tape to be wound onto the handle portion of the racqueteither in a tight or loose helix. That is to say, that the convolutionsformed as the tape is helically wound may be closely spaced byoverlapping the tape as it is wound for a substantial part of its width.To obtain different spacing of the convolutions of the helix the tapemay be wound so that it does not overlap to such an extent.

The winding of the tape 6 in this fashion results in the production of adouble thickness 12 of the tape extending helically along the handleportion of the racquet. Between this helically extending doublethickness portion 12 a depressed region comprising a single thickness 13of tape is formed. This depressed region also extends helically alongthe handle portion and forms a groove to accomodate the fingers of thehand gripping the racquet. This finger accomodating groove may be variedin width by varying the degree of overlap of the tape as it is woundonto the handle portion. In addition by reversing the direction of thehelix relative to the racquet head the depressed region may be in theform of either a left or a right-handed helix thereby providing analternative arrangement of finger depressions for different users.

The grooves 9 provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the tape maybe of any suitable depth. The grooves may be arranged to extendlongitudinally along the tape at spaced intervals laterally across thetape. These grooves provide built-in traction which prevents the handfrom slipping along the handle portion of the racquet. These groovesalso provide a reservoir and channel to allow perspiration and othermoisture to flow away from the hand so that this moisture does notadversely affect the area of grip surface being held. The presence ofthese grooves 9 and ridges 10 also has the advantage of providing anincreased surface area from which moisture is readily evaporated whenthe racquet is not in use. In addition, when a material such as cellularrubber or plastics is used to make the tape, the base material does notabsorb any appreciable amount of moisture during use of the racquet. Asthe grooves and ridges provide an increased surface area across thetape, any moisture clinging to the surface of the grip is readily wipedoff during use. Alternatively such moisture readily evaporates duringnon-use of the racquet. This may further be enhanced by roughening thesurface of the grooves and ridges. By using a material such as closedcell, microcellular rubber which does not absorb moisture the gripcannot become saturated during use. Thus when wiped dry it is as dry asbefore use whereas a leather grip for example still retains moistureafter wiping and can take a long time to fully dry out.

As mentioned above the grip tape 6 provided by the present invention ishelically applied to the handle portion of a racquet as shown in FIGS. 1and 2. If desired this handle portion may be at least partially coatedwith an adhesive such as a contact adhesive. With the tape of thepresent invention it is not necessary to fix the tape to the handleportion along the total surface area of the handle portion. This is sobecause of the interlocking nature of the complementary grooves andridges provided on the tape. For example, only the ends of the tape needbe attached to the handle portion of the racquet by an adhesive or anyother suitable means for securing the tape to the handle portion. Thetape intermediate the two ends tends to remain in place because of theinterlocking grooves and ridges. If desired the total area of the handleportion may be coated with an adhesive and then the wrapping tape of theinvention may be applied to it. Whilst it is preferred to form a grip byoverlapping a portion of the tape as described above, it is to beappreciated that a grip may also be formed in accordance with theinvention by winding the tape in a helix in which the marginal edges donot overlap.

Some particularly preferred physical parameters of materials which areconsidered useful for producing a tape according to the inventioninclude:

(a) Density of between 0.35 and 0.55 g/cm³

(b) Shrinkage not more than 10% at 100° C. for one hour

(c) Tensile strength between 20 and 40 kg/cm²

(d) Elongation at break between 100 and 300%, and

(e) Tear strength between 10 and 30 kg/cm width.

As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art a variety of materialsof varying physical and chemical properties may be advantageouslyemployed in accordance with the present invention.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a method for producing thetape of the invention. The method may include the steps of providing adisc of tape material, the thickness of the disc corresponding to theintended tape width, and peeling a strip of tape from the outerperiphery of the disc by rotating the disc relative to the cutting toolheld against the outer periphery of the rotating disc.

The disc may be cut or stamped from a sheet of tape material. To providemulti-coloured tape a plurality of layers of different colouredmaterials may be laminated to form a sheet from which the disc may becut. A laminating adhesive may be employed. Preferably the adhesive is acontact adhesive which is not reactivatable. Preferably the adhesive isa cross-linked thermosetting adhesive. When discs are cut or stampedfrom such a laminated sheet the tape so formed will then havelongitudinal stripes of each of the laminates.

Discs of tape material may also be prepared by other methods. Forexample the discs may be moulded directly in the desired disc form toavoid cutting or stamping or different coloured layers of material maybe fused during moulding or extrusion and not laminated. Othervariations in the preparation of the discs are also envisaged within thescope of the present invention.

The cutting edge of the peeling knife may be applied at an angle to theouter periphery of the rotating disc. To maintain a substantially eventhickness of tape the knife and the outer periphery of the disc mayprogressively be moved relatively towards one another. Such relativemovement may be achieved by moving the knife inwardly towards the axisof rotation of the disc. In another arrangement the disc may becontinuously urged against a substantially stationery knife.Arrangements in which the rotating disc and the knife both move are alsoenvisaged as being within the scope of the invention. Whilst many speedsof disc rotation may be employed a preferred speed is within the range500 to 5000 feet/min. More preferably the speed is between 1500-2000feet/min.

It has been found that due to the characteristics of the preferredmaterials from which the tape may be made a knife with a straightcutting edge of the type used in veneering timber and the like may notbe suitable for peeling tape from a disc of tape material. It has beensurprisingly found however, that use of a knife with a serrated cuttingedge overcomes the difficulties experienced with knives having astraight cutting edge and provides satisfactory results even withrelatively soft or spongy materials. Accordingly use of a knife with aserrated cutting edge is particularly preferred.

Thus, in another embodiment the invention provides a knife or cuttingtool with a serrated cutting edge for use in peeling tape from arotating disc. Preferably the knife is substantially rectangular intransverse cross-section although other cross-sections may be employed.The knife has a front face 20 and a rear face 21. The front face, inuse, faces the periphery of the rotating disc and the rear face facesaway from the disc. The tape, after being peeled from the disc may passalong the rear face 21 of the knife.

In this embodiment the cutting edge 22 comprises a series of teeth 23.As shown in FIG. 4 the teeth 23 merge into the rear face 21. The teeth23 are preferably pyramidal in shape. Preferably the teeth 23 aresharpened to form cutting edges 24 in the vicinity of the apex of thepyramidal shape. The teeth may be triangular in cross-section. The frontface of the knife may have a series of grooves 25 as shown in FIG. 5.These grooves may extend at least part way along the frontface 20. Wherethe teeth 23 are triangular and one face of the triangle merges withface 21, the adjacent faces combine to form the start of the grooves.Preferably the grooves are substantially V-shaped.

The knife may be hollow ground. Preferably the cutting edge 22 of theknife is substantially broader than the width of a disc wherebynotwithstanding small lateral movement of the disc the periphery of thedisc will continue to contact the cutting edge 22 of the knife.

The distal end of the knife may have a suitable stock for facilitatingmounting of the knife in a machine to present the knife for peeling oftape from a disc.

The angle of the knife relative to the disc has not been foundparticularly critical although it has been found that particularlyuseful results may be obtained when the cutting edge is substantiallytangential to the periphery.

It has been found in use that the preferred knife described aboveprovides a tape with a somewhat roughened surface. Such a surface isparticularly preferred. It is presently believed that the advantages ofsuch a surface are due to the larger surface area in comparison with asubstantially flat tape. Accordingly it is believed that moisture ismore likely to be thinly spread over the surface and therefore toevaporate at a faster rate. In addition the rougher surface facilitatesa better grip between the tape and a user's hand even where only a smallamount of moisture is present.

The grip tape provided by the present invention and grips formedtherefrom in accordance with the invention show considerable advantagesover the known prior art. It will be seen for example, that the griptape provided by the present invention may be readily wiped dry with ahand-towel and provides a good measure of traction against the hand ofthe user at all times whereas previously known leather or towellinggrips, which are substantially flat under hand pressure, tend to becomesupersaturated with moisture during use.

Further, the softness of the grip which in turn offsets the comfort andtraction may be varied by altering the overall thickness of the tapeand/or the height of the ridges and grooves. It has been found that theridges and/or grooves on either or both sides of the tape may deformunder pressure whereby the grip can have a cushioning effect. In thisway a grip formed from the tape provided acts as a shock absorberbetween the handle and the user's hand and may accordingly be beneficialin minimizing injuries such as tennis elbow. The complementary ridgesand grooves on a tape according to the invention allow the advantages ofcushioning and good grip to be achieved in a single tape.

The present invention may provide a grip for the handle portion of theracquet, hand tool or like implement, steering wheel or any other itemadapted to be grasped by a hand, either during the manufacture of suchitem or as a replacement grip for an existing item. In the latter casethe replacement grip is generally provided in the form of grip tapewhich may be found onto and over any existing grips or if preferred anyexisting grip may be removed prior to forming the new grip from the griptape provided by the present invention.

I claim:
 1. A hand grip on the handle portion of sporting equipment,hand tool or other article generally gripped by hand during use, havinghelically wound onto said handle and affixed thereto a length of tapewith upper and lower surfaces provided with substantially complementary,longitudinally extending grooves and ridges such that a portion of onelongitudinal edge of said tape overlaps a portion of the oppositelongitudinal edge thereof, whereby grooves and ridges on the uppersurface of said tape engage complementary ridges and grooves on thelower surface of said tape, and the grooves and ridges of the uppersurface extend helically around the handle portion.
 2. A hand gripaccording to claim 1 wherein the tape comprises a plurality oflongitudinally extending strips joined together along longitudinallyextending edges thereof.
 3. A hand grip according to claim 2 wherein thegrooves and ridges extend at least partway laterally across the tapefrom at least one edge thereof.
 4. A hand grip according to claim 3wherein the grooves and ridges are substantially V-shaped incross-section.
 5. A hand grip according to claim 4 wherein the tape ismade of cellular rubber or plastics material.